Friends
of Nipper
support this site to honor Nipper, a unique star in the history of
talking machines.

Nipper
was a a terrier whose lineage is commonly thought to be a mix of Fox
and Bull Terrier. But his pedigre didn't matter. It was his curiousity
and famous pose as he listened to sounds from a machine that epitomized
what this new wonder was introducing to the world.

Born in
1884 in Bristol, England, Nipper was painted listening to a phonograph
in late 1898 three years after Nipper's death. The original painting
by Francis Barraud displayed an Edison-Bell Phonograph as the source
of Nipper's interest. In 1898 Barraud repainted the Phonograph with
a Berliner Gramophone and it was this painting that would become the
trademark for Eldridge Johnson's Victor Talking Machine Company (which
Johnson took over from Emile Berliner).

With his
ear cocked sitting in front of a talking machine listening to "His
Master's Voice," Nipper would be seen in countless advertisements
into the 21st century and far outlive the Victor and its generation
of listeners.

It is one
of the great advertising ironies that the dog that couldn't find a
home with the Edison Phonograph went on to become one of the most
famous marketing images of all time, doing so for Edison's chief competitor,
the Victor Talking Machine Company.

Click on this image to enter
the Nipper Art Gallery and see other
Nipper inspired works of art

On February
11, 1899, Francis filed an application for copyright of this painting
“Dog Looking At and Listening to a Phonograph.” According to Leonard
Petts, author of The story of 'Nipper' and the 'His Master's Voice'
picture painted by Francis Barraud, negotiations for the transfer
of the copyright of the repainted picture with the Gramophone "
were completed with Barraud by 31st January 1900 and on 6th February
the Company applied for a Memorandum of the Assignment of Copyright
of the painting of Dog looking into and listening to a Gramophone
and entitled His Master's Voice."

Nipper
made his first appearance on the Gramophone Company's advertising
literature on the Record Supplement for January 1900.

The original
painting (below, left) by Francis Barraud, Nipper's owner and brother
of the original owner, displayed an Edison Phonograph as the subject
talking machine.

On the
right is a photograph showing the 1899 update where Barraud has repainted
the Phonograph as a Berliner Gramophone.

The

Memories
of the Phonograph is
a section of Phonographia that offers a variety of recollections,
short stories and memories of the Phonograph by Friends of the
Phonograph.

Click
on this image to learn the story of Carie, another special Terrier,
who like Nipper was a Friend of the Phonograph 100 years
after Nipper.

PhonoLinks
are connections to 21st century phonographia.

PhonoLinks
are sourced by contemporary phonograph related references found in
newspapers, advertisements, the intranet, or perhaps simply by something
seen while walking down the street. Click
Hereor
on the PhonoLinks image to learn more.

PhonoArtis
a gallery of art that displays the phonograph as a cultural icon.

As depicted
in greeting cards, computer clipart, cartoons, advertisements, periodicals,
posters and in a variety of venues from museums to the internet, the
phonograph can be seen as a richly connected symbol. Click
Here or on the PhonoArt image to learn more.